tongues wag

Idioms  

1. People are gossiping. For example, Tongues wagged when another police car was parked in front of their house, or Their arrival in a stretch limousine set the neighbors' tongues wagging. This metaphoric expression transfers the rapid movement of the tongue to idle or indiscreet chatter. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

Then, issue a press guidance that he will be making an announcement on Tuesday and watch the tongues wag.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2025

Though there are many, many reasons she might have avoided marriage, her staunch refusal made tongues wag, even centuries later.

From Salon • Jul. 24, 2021

It was for other distracting reasons that the selection made tongues wag — at least among those who spend their Sunday evenings watching CBS’s “The Good Wife.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2015

While his neighbors' tongues wag and his family's hearts sink, he squires the unsuspecting young lady to carnivals and Chinese restaurants, strains his eyes going without glasses, sprains his tack showing off as a wrestler.

From Time Magazine Archive

The flagons are setting a running, their tongues wag at the same time, and their mirth flows as a river.

From Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution by Waller, Alfred Rayney